We’re the first to admit that there’s a lot to like about the iPhone from the huge library of apps that run flawlessly to the well-engineered hardware that includes a fast charging phone and snappy graphics. On the other hand, as we’ve been using the iPhone we’ve been keeping a list of some aspects we’re not that crazy about. If we’ve been unfair for some reason please feel free to call us on it.

1. What’s Wrong with Black Earbuds?We know Apple wants everyone to associate white earbuds with Apple products but we can’t help associating them with white go-go boots, they just don’t look cool to us. It was nice of Apple to redesign the shape of them for a better audio experience, but why not at least offer black earbuds as an aftermarket product? They look so much less conspicuous and go better with dark clothing. How about offering black earbuds with black iPhones and white ones with white iPhones?

2. No Way to See What’s Draining the BatteryHow often have you wished you can check and see what apps are creating a demand on iPhone’s processor and battery so you could shut them down? In Windows, there’s a utility called the Task Manager that shows you which apps are running, how much the CPU is working and which processes are using the most memory. There’s a similar app for Mac OS computers called Mac OS Activity Monitor. Although there are some useful third party iOS apps like System Activity Monitor or System Status, they don’t really help much to identify and kill battery draining apps and we’re not aware of anything built into iOS that would make it easy to spot power hungry apps and allow you to close them at the same time.

Low Power Mode and Close All Apps?How about a low-power mode similar to airplane mode where just about everything except cellular radios and the Find My Phone app get turned off in order to stretch a low battery as far as possible? While we’re on the subject; we know Apple claims you can leave apps “open” without compromising resources but we like to periodically close apps we’re not using. Unfortunately, to do that, you have to kill them one at a time. Is there an easier way to do this?

3. No Way to Abort a TransmissionHere’s the scenario; we started to send a video over an overloaded cellular network at a crowded event in Las Vegas. The iPhone started to crank away, the phone got warm and the battery started to drain right before our eyes. Obviously the transmission was not going to go through and the only way to abort it was to force the phone to shut down. Couldn’t Apple come up with something more graceful? How about a message that says it’s taking too long or how about any easier way to abort a transmission? Are we missing something?

4. How About a Back Button?Maybe this is one of those complaints like why did Apple only offer a one button mouse and this will probably be one thing Android will always have in its favor and that would be a back button that takes you one step back where you just came from. It comes in so handy so many times, so much better than going “home” and starting out all over again.

5. Our iPhone Can’t Tell Horizontal From Vertical
We wonder how many other iPhone owners lock their phones in one position. We find that if we let the iPhone decide what position it’s in and we hold it in a somewhat vertical position, it constantly switches between landscape and portrait mode. Is it just us?

6. Lightning Connector Fiasco
One of the reasons Apple enjoyed such a huge success with the iPhone and iPad was the enormous third party accessory market that sprang up around a standardized connector, something we always thought was a big oversight on the Android camp. We can’t help thinking how Apple took such a good thing and threw it for a loop with the introduction of a new connector. Not only do you need an expensive adaptor to use an old cable, they don’t make an adaptor that we’re aware of that allows you to use a device with a new Lightning connector like a speaker doc with a device with the older 30-pin connector.

7. Podcast App Confusion
Managing podcasts in iTunes was okay from the start despite the fact that you couldn’t do anything “locally” like deleting a podcast on your phone. Then along came the Apple Podcast app that was so unstable when it first came out it barely garnered a star or two in iTunes. Even after some major updates the reviews are largely critical. See for yourself. Although the app is actually pretty usable now it’s still not clear to us how it works with iTunes.

What’s Your Apple Pet Peeve?
Now that we’ve shared some of the things we wish Apple would improve what about you? What are some of your biggest frustrations with Apple devices? Also feel free to set us straight if we were off-base with any of our complaints.

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Programmatic alteration of the functionality of a device which may be considered an emergency communication device violates federal law.

My experience was that the iPhone's temperature shutoff did not work when on the phone with the operator. This caused a physical injury to the face that caused noticeable swelling of the face for over two months.

Further research showed that the iPhone does not function normally for emergency calls in typical ambient temperatures of many geographic locations where the iPhone was sold.

Apple's executives including Steve Jobs were notified but Apple decided to keep this matter secret.

You may look at the details of the complaint on saferproducts.gov site.

http://saferproducts.gov/ViewIncident/1173237

The government redacted the information showing that Jobs was notified and Congressional inquires were made on the saferproducts.gov site.

Apple refused to address the issue in any way and offered me about $1,500 to settle which I declined. No law suits were filed given Apple's resources, offensive tactics, and influence over the government.

One has to wonder, what is Apple doing for the government that would make the government allow the weakening of the emergency communication infrastructure?

I've always felt that neither Apple nor MS listened to users. MS because it was deaf and Apple because it was part of the Jobs mystique: the man/god/genius who was guided by himself alone. Now there are two problems facing Apple that Apple isn't facing up to: 1, Samsung has outdone it and 2, Jobs is dead. Now Apple is just a company, not a religion, and the other aspect of Jobs emerges: that of greedy control freak. Checked Apple's stock price lately?

1) Earbud color? That is your complaint?
2) Um, you know there's an app for that, right?
3) Um, yeah, just force quit the sending app.
4) Back buttons are the responsibility of the app. Just because there is no dedicated hardware button does not mean the functionality is not there. If your favorite app does not have on, qvetch at them about it. It is a screen real estate vs phone real estate issue. Design choice. Screen real estate is cheap.
5) Yes, your rotation sensor is glitchy. Either that or you are holding it consistently at an angle that is just at the dividing line between the sensor heuristics. Any phone would have this issue, some at different angles than others.
6) Really?!? Lighting to 30-pin adaptors have been available from DAY ONE (and yes, they work on dock connector hardware. Also, they are NOT expensive, I got a lightning to 30-pin adaptor with built in card reader for $5!
7) Don't use the feature, but given the above evinced track record, I suspect there are easy solutions and that this is a non-problem.

Kudos for a great response and thanks for saving my time! Poorly researched blog. I am not a super user of my iPhone 5 by any stretch of the imagination and knew the complaints were more like home grown ignorance. Shame on Retrevo for publishing such a poorly researched article. Now I think I understand why blogs are so popular.... I am done with Retrevo too! The old adage still applies "don't believe everything you read". Wow what a ridiculous thing to publish!

I'm also assuming no spell check as well? Great phone. I use my phone for phone calls, as I've better things to do with my time. Sheesh, I can just picture a "phone" with cords & dangley things attached' how are you supposed to use that contraption? Looks like an octopus.
Computers are for computer stuff.
Phones are for making phone calls.
Period.

no I like the vetting of the apps i guess my two gripes would be a ability to lock landscape or portrait mode and instead of having to pay for a phone with larger memory allow us to plug mem cards into our phones so if we want 32 or 64 that's our choice later not while we are purchasing a new phone with all the new ACCESSORIES

no I like the vetting of the apps i guess my two gripes would be a ability to lock landscape or portrait mode and instead of having to pay for a phone with larger memory allow us to plug mem cards into our phones so if we want 32 or 64 that's our choice later not while we are purchasing a new phone with all the new ACCESSORIES

I like the apps and the phone in general, but I have a serious problem with a few things. My contact list is a huge issue. I've had to clean it up a number of times because the iPhone adds the same record multiple time. I've even lost records and had information cross between records. I'm no longer in "The Cloud".

Limited choices for calendar alerts. It should mirror the alert settings more of, I know the competitor, Outlook.

Siri-I think Siri is absolute garbage. Most of the time it won't understand my commands and another BIG issue with Siri is you need a data connection or wifi to use it. I don't connect to data when roaming internationally in Canada (that's another issue) which renders Sir obsolete and takes away the ability to initiate a call hands free thru my vehicle's Bluetooth (a safety issue). I never had that problem with my Blackberry. Oh, did I mention the competition again.

Last, data roaming. I travel a lot to Canada and as a result of exorbitant data charges associated with the iPhone, I only connect to wifi when in Canada. I turned my data on one time and within 15 seconds (yes, literally 15 seconds) I received 2 messages from my carrier that I had already incurred $50.00 in roaming charges yet I had just barely started downloading my emails. I hadn't even read them yet. Again, never had that issue with my Blackberry.

Be careful when changes the data settings on Roaming to voice only. You'll still incur data roaming charges unless you set Cellular Data to off. This shouldn't be this way.

While Apple thinks their at the top of the market, they could use someone like me on the product review board.

I can't believe not being able to remove battery isn't number ONE. You morons DO know you can (and probably are) be tracked even if phone is off? That is the reason I have NEVER owned an iPhone. I might one day if they ever let people remove battery but not until then.

First, why would you think that posting such insults would be productive? Second, ALL phones broadcast tracking data even when off, by FEDERAL LAW. Third, if you are really that paranoid, and so self-important that you believe anyone really cares to know where you are 24 hours a day, simply place your phone in a metal case. Or better yet, in aluminum foil. That way it will match your hat.

The one thing that just really makes me steam with Apple is this obsessive belief that Apple products are the best and everything else is second rate, its not just the company but also a large percentage of customers. There is an infuriating arrogance with absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever. Just because they have instantly recognisable products and an extremely large advertising budget(thanks to overpriced products made by underpaid workers, yeah, I know they all do it but Apple are best at screwing more money out of customers for less), does not mean the products are the best. In fact I find Apple to be irritating to use and would like to publicly humiliate the idiot that came up with iTunes(I mean, really, wtf is that supposed to be other than badly designed shoddy self-importance, should be renamed "I'm in charge" Despite this loathing of certain aspects I can(and do) publicly admit and discuss when Apple is better, obviously it doesn't happen very often but at least I can.

There is no indication that a missed telephone call has left a message. With my Verizon iPhone 4S (OIS6) to find that a call has been missed, you have to check recent calls and to see if there is a message you have to call *86. All my BlackBerrys displayed a red LED if a call was missed, so you knew that it was a good idea to check if there was a message.